On 3 January 2013, Karunanidhi named Stalin as his heir apparent, thus ending a long time confusion about who would take over the party reins after Karunanidhi's death.[5] Stalin was designated as the Working President of the DMK on 4 January 2017.

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M. K. Stalin was born in Madras, now Chennai, on 1 March 1953. He was named after Joseph Stalin, who died later that week. His political career began when, as a 14 year old, he campaigned in the 1967 elections.[6] In 1973, Stalin was elected to the General committee of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

He came to limelight when he was jailed under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for protesting against the Emergency.[7] Stalin has been elected four times to the Tamil Nadu Assembly since 1989 from the Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai. Stalin became the city's first directly elected Mayor in 1996.[8]

Stalin was reelected Mayor in 2001,[9] however, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa enacted the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2002, a law that prevents a person from holding two elected posts in the government. This law was applied retrospectively to Stalin's case (he was elected MLA) in a move widely seen as aimed at removing as Chennai's Mayor.[10] However the Madras High Court struck down the law stating that legislative bodies were not "prevented" from making laws affecting the "substantive rights" of persons retrospectively. However, the court held under Madras (now Chennai) City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, a person cannot be Mayor for two consecutive terms though unlike Stalin earlier mayors were not directly elected. Stalin did not appeal in the Supreme Court.[11]

Stalin has been arrested several times on various public issues since he was first arrested in 1975 under MISA, which is close to the Terrorism and Goondas Acts. Severe physical punishment has been imposed on him previously. Karunanidhi midnight arrest in which Karunanidhi, Stalin, Maran, and others were arrested and charged in the flyover scam. This was widely considered to be an act of political vendetta,[12] as the FIR or police complaint was lodged on Friday night and the arrests were carried out only a few hours later on Saturday morning.[13] While the arrests took place in 2001, the chargesheet was only filed in court four years later, in 2005.[14]

Stalin openly accused V. K. Sasikala of Jayalalithaa's death. He said that if Jayalalithaa’s death is probed, she’d be in jail for life.[15]

However, DMK sources and political supporters deny this[clarification needed] and say Stalin has come up on his own merit. They say that Stalin has faced a lot of hardship since 1975 when he was jailed under MISA. He was beaten up in jail so brutally during the Emergency that a fellow DMK Party prisoner named Chittibabu died trying to save him.[25][26]

Stalin was an MLA in 1989 and 1996 when his father Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister but he was not inducted into the Cabinet. He contested and became Chennai's 44th mayor but the first directly elected Mayor in 1996. It was only in his fourth term as MLA that he was made a Minister in the Karunanidhi cabinet and his rise is slow and steady. They further point out that Karunanidhi has even expelled his other sons M.K. Muthu and M.K. Azhagiri when they were guilty of wrongdoing.[27]